Chapter 553 Daphne’s Decision
Sonia nodded as she didn’t want to keep it a secret from him. “Yes.”
Charles’ face immediately darkened. “What did she tell you?”
“Mrs. Lane didn’t really tell me anything besides our current situation,” she answered as she glanced at him.
However, he clenched his fists. “Who is she to poke her nose in my issues?”
Upon noticing how displeased Charles was at Grace’s intervention, Sonia frowned. “Charles, Mrs. Lane only did that for us.”
“I don’t need her help!” Charles looked like he was extremely exasperated as his face reddened.
“Charles—”
“Enough!” He took a deep breath and tried to suppress his temper before he asked calmly, “That’s enough, bab—no, is it alright if I address you as Sonny instead?”
When she heard Charles’ new nickname for her, Sonia grinned before nodding. “Of course.”
When he received Sonia’s approval, Charles’ expression improved. “I’m sorry. I know I have probably scared you earlier. It’s just that I suddenly received a call from my mom just now and she told me that she had a talk with you. She also wanted me to let go of my feelings for you, so I came to look for you because I’m worried that she might have said something mean to you.”
She nodded in realization. “I see. However, you’re worrying too much. Mrs. Lane was gentle with me and she didn’t say anything mean at all.”
“Thank goodness.” He sighed in relief.
For the past two days, he had been in a bad mood and isolated himself while drinking in his room. He only had himself to blame for being down in the dumps, so when he heard that Grace had looked for Sonia, he was afraid that she would blame Sonia for what had happened to him.
Fortunately, Grace was a rational person.
“Charles.” Sonia rose from her seat. “Are you annoyed that Mrs. Lane intervened in our matter?”
Upon hearing that, Charles’ expression slightly darkened. “Just a little, but it’s alright.”
He had to admit that he wasn’t the best and had always been a coward when it came to his relationship with Sonia.
However, he was already past 30 years old and he didn’t need his mother to intervene just to help him resolve things. It’s really embarrassing.
And that was the reason why he had badly reacted to Grace inviting Sonia out.
“Charles, Mrs. Lane is just worried for you.” Sonia tried to reassure Charles while he glanced at his watch. “Yeah, I get it. Anyway, it’s late, so I’m leaving now.”
With that, he started to make his way out of Sonia’s office.
After taking a few steps forward, Charles suddenly noticed Daphne’s presence and narrowed his eyes. “Come out with me for a moment.”
Daphne immediately flinched and lowered her head before she mumbled a reply, “Alright.”
Then, they left Sonia’s office one after another while Sonia tilted her head in confusion as she watched their retreating figures.
That’s weird. Why does Daphne look like she’s afraid of Charles? Something is wrong here. Daphne had worked alongside Charles as his secretary for a few years before she was transferred to help me out a few months ago. While she respects Charles, she definitely isn’t afraid of him, so why is she being fearful of him now? What happened between them?
Now that they were outside, Charles took Daphne to the elevator and turned around before staring at her from above to ask coldly, “Did you tell her about what happened the other day?”
She didn’t even have to think who he was referring to as she quickly shook her head. “No. Definitely not. Even if you didn’t ask me to, I still won’t tell President Reed about it.”
His expression visibly relaxed. “I see. Remember what you have promised me. She definitely can’t know about this.”
“I’ll remember it,” she quietly answered.
As Charles looked at her, a conflicted look flashed in his eyes. “Did you take the medicine?”
At this moment, Daphne felt a sharp pain in her heart as she clenched her fists before answering, “I did.”
“That’s good to know. If there’s nothing else, you may return to your work.” Charles sighed in relief before he turned to press on the elevator’s button.
He would admit that his current behavior was terrible, but he didn’t feel like he should be responsible for anything.
Indeed, Charles had mistaken Daphne for Sonia and pulled her into his private room when he was drunk.
However, Daphne was sober the entire time. She knew what he was going to do to her, but she never struggled or pushed him away. Instead, she went along willingly with everything that he did.
Since she had voluntarily done the deed with him, it wasn’t a case of him forcing her to do it.
Of course, if Charles had indeed forced Daphne to do it, he was willing to take the responsibility even if he didn’t love her.
However, since he had never forced her and even compensated her after everything that happened, he didn’t owe her anything.
Naturally, he also bought Daphne the morning after pills to prevent her from falling pregnant.
Although it would harm her body, it was the only way to prevent the pregnancy.
With a sigh, Charles started to make his way into the elevator while Daphne bit her lips before she called out for him. “President Lane.”
He paused in his footsteps. “Do you need anything else?”
Daphne tightly grabbed the hem of her shirt and took a deep breath to summon the courage before saying, “I really like you and I’ve been in love with you for many years now, so… Can you give me a chance? I—”
“No!” Charles interrupted her without any hesitation, which caused her face to pale.
He has rejected me without even considering it. Looks like he really doesn’t want to give me any opportunities at all.
“I won’t give you a chance because I don’t like you, and that’s for your own good as well. If we really are together, don’t you think that it would be unfair for you when I still have someone else on my mind?” He glanced at her from the corners of his eyes.
Daphne then opened her mouth slightly before she replied wryly, “I know that, but I’m willing to endure it. I can wait until you forget about her.”
“That’s impossible. I won’t accept it.” Charles ended the conversation before he entered the elevator and left, leaving Daphne to watch as the elevator door slowly closed while her heart bled.
From afar, Sonia sighed before she shook her head when she saw what had happened from the entrance of her office.
Despite her being a distance away and she couldn’t really hear their conversation, she could already guess what had happened from Daphne’s expression. Charles has probably rejected Daphne after she confessed to him.
After Sonia sighed, she walked toward Daphne. “Daphne.”
The moment she heard Sonia’s voice, Daphne quickly raised her hand in panic before she removed her glasses to wipe her tears away. After ensuring that her glasses were clean from any tear stains, she wore it again and finally turned around. “President Reed.”
Right then, Sonia took a packet of tissue paper from her pocket before handing it to Daphne. “It’s better if you use this since your hands might be dirty.”
As she stared at the tissue paper, Daphne was silent for a while before she reached out to take it. “Thank you, President Reed.”
“No problem.” Sonia smiled before she eyed the elevator. “Did you just confess to Charles?”
Daphne paused from drying her eyes before she hummed in acknowledgement. “I was rejected.”
“That’s alright.” Sonia patted Daphne’s shoulder. “Just because you’ve been rejected this time doesn’t mean that you can’t confess again. I’m sure that you’ll be able to move Charles’ heart one day. Sometimes all we need is a little bit of determination.”
Daphne looked up at Sonia with red eyes. “Didn’t President Lane fail to woo you even though he’s been in love with you for many years, though? Do you really think that I’ll be able to court him if I hold on?”
Although Sonia was in a state of disbelief, she lowered her gaze and smiled. “How can you tell if you never give it a try? Besides, there’s something wrong with your statement. Although Charles has been in love with me for many years, he has never once revealed that he’s in love with me, so I never knew that he loved me. Moreover, the reason why he failed was because he never confessed to me. However, it’s different for you. You’ve already confessed your feelings to him. If you continue to chase him seriously, there’s a chance that you might actually succeed.”
After she heard what Sonia had said, Daphne started to ponder. “Maybe you’re right, President Reed.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t you give it a shot?” Sonia retracted her hand from Daphne’s shoulder after telling Daphne everything that she wanted to say before she turned around to return to her office.
Meanwhile, a conflicted Daphne stared at Sonia’s retreating figure and clenched her fists.
A while later, she took a deep breath before shouting in Sonia’s direction, “Thank you, President Reed! I know what to do now!”
